The Crown's Entrapment

At the Hindman Manor, Jayra felt the days becoming shorter as the days went by. As such, she made sure that every minute she spent with Bartos and his family was all worthwhile.

In two days, the two of them would need to go back to the castle already. Both of them had pending work to do, and they couldn’t put off their jobs just to have more time with their family. She would’ve loved to stay with her in-laws a bit more, but it would have to happen some other time. Maybe once Princess Xenia was already declared as the official Queen.

Also, today would be a busy day for her since her mother-in-law had become too busy preparing for her wedding ceremony with Bartos, an event which would happen around a day after King Darius’s arrival. With that in mind, they had approximately seven days from now to prepare for what was to come.

“Sister-in-law! Here are the invitations,” Bella beamed as she handed a few copies to Jayra. “They’re ready for your wedding to Brother.”

“Thank you, Bella.”

“Invite everybody you want from Ebodia,” Bella added with a grin and a chuckle. “I made more than enough for our needs.”

Jayra chuckled. “Hmm… But I’ll only have Princess Xenia to attend for me. I don’t want to burden our King and Queen with having them needing to travel here just to attend my wedding ceremony. I mean, they would surely come if they found out about this, but the people of our kingdom need them there more than I do,” she smiled. “Besides, them attending the Princess’s wedding and her trials would be more than enough trouble to them already.”

It was no joke trying to travel to Cordon. It would take days of travel just for them to reach the kingdom from Ebodia, and time was worth its weight in gold for their rulers. She didn’t want them to be burdened like this. Instead, Jayra planned on simply planned tell them of the good news once the wedding ceremony had ended.

“Tsk, what are you saying? I’m sure your king and queen, who you said has treated you as a family, will feel sad if you keep such a special occasion from them,” Bella scoffed with a click of her tongue. “It’s your special day, my dear sister-in-law, and I’m sure you wanna share it with the people you love and care for the most,” Bella added.

“Anyway, I think they’re already aware of the good news since I’ve heard from my brother that Princess Xenia had relayed a message to her parents. And I do believe that her message has a line or two about your coming wedding in it.” She smugly smiled as she pointed at Jayra, “So start sending those invitations to your loved ones back in Ebodia, alright? Let them decide for themselves if they want to attend or not. I’m sure your king and queen can balance everything out.”

Jayra couldn’t agree more. Simply nodding along, she looked at the invitations in her hands. Knowing Princess Xenia, the latter would surely send word to everyone in Ebodia about her coming wedding. Thinking about it now, Bella was right. She would just have to send the invitations out to everyone and let them decide of their own accord if they wanted to attend the wedding or not.

“Ah, right. The seamstresses will be here soon to get your sizes for the wedding dress,” Bella reminded. “Go and name out the invitations and give them back to me afterwards so I can quickly pass them on to our messengers.”

Giving Bella a nod, Jayra quickly walked to their bedchamber and started writing in the names of those she would love to witness to come see her on her wedding day. Soon, she finished up, and she couldn’t help but stare at the invitations. Her eyes welled up, and she couldn’t control the overwhelming feelings stirring deep inside her heart.

Her dreams came true one by one… Being a mage… having a family… and now getting married to the man of her choice. A man she loved…

“Soon, I’ll be a mother, then a grandmother,” she whispered, sobbing despite letting out a joyful chuckle. It was only a good thing that Bartos was outside, unable to witness how crazy she must’ve looked right now.

[Are you alright? What’s going on?]

Jayra inwardly cursed, forgetting how Bartos could still feel her emotions at that moment. She forgot to put her wall up. That was careless of her.

[Nothing, husband. It’s just that I’m so happy right now,] she quickly replied, still wiping the tears off her eyes. [Sorry for worrying you. I’m just looking at the invitations and I got emotional. That’s all…]

[Do you want me there?] Bartos quickly asked. [I’ll head back inside. Are you inside the bedchamber?]

Jayra chuckled, [No, I’m meeting the seamstress with Mother-in-law, so go back to what you were doing before all this.]

It was for the best. She was sure they would just end up doing a few rounds of ‘strenuous exercise’ again if Bartos was confined with her inside their bedchamber.

Gathering her composure, Jayra quickly got out to go to the private chamber where her mother-in-law and Bella were currently waiting for her. Somehow, those two were busier than the bride to be, and she was right on time as she spotted the seamstress waiting for her once she arrived.

“Oh, I was just about to call for you,” Bella said with a grin.

It didn’t take long for the seamstress to get her sizes after that. Since she let Bella and her mother-in-law handle the design of her gown, she was surprised when the two were thoughtful enough to get her an Ebodian design for her wedding day dress.

“By the way, when do you think we should do the Masquerade Ball for Bella, Mother?” Jayra opened up the topic. She would be the one to handle that event, and she wanted to make it as perfect as possible. She would have to ask Princess Xenia for help about it later.

“Hmm, we have a lot of events happening in a row, so I think it’s best if everything else is first settled before we proceed,” Livia sagely commented. “Let’s wait for the Trials to finish… Then we can decide when to hold the ball.”

“Right. It’s better that we wait for the formal appointment of our Queen to happen, whoever that might be,” Bella nodded. “We can even cancel it if Princess Xenia won’t make-“

“Bella!” Livia exclaimed, glaring at her daughter. “Words.”

Taking the hint, Bella apologetically looked at her and said, “Me and my blunt mouth. I’m sorry, Sister-in-law. I didn’t mean to say something pessimistic… It’s just that we never know what could happen, and it’ll be awkward to have a ball if-“

“Bella!”

Jayra chuckled, “It’s alright, Mother-in-law. Bella was just being honest. Truly, no one can tell what would happen in the trials to become a queen. But I am confident with our Princess Xenia. She would definitely be crowned as the Queen of the Kingdom of Cordon soon enough.”

“I really admire how you believe in your Princess,” Bella replied in wonder. “Is there a secret power within her that you’ve been hiding? Is she not human somehow?”

Jayra’s smile widened as she answered, “Our Princess is definitely human, Bella, but…”

“But?”

“Hmm, you’ll find out soon enough in the trials…” Jayra hinted with a grin.

“Ah, I hate suspense like that, Sister-in-law,” Bella pouted. “Tell me now or I’ll die of curiosity!”

“Well, our Princess has an infinite well of fighting spirit within her, so she will surely succeed…” Jayra murmured with a grin and a chuckle.